1945 American Pioneer Trails Association Pictorial Map of the Western United States

This is a 1945 Irvin Shope pictorial map of the western United States commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Depicting from the Mississippi River west to the Pacific, a solid red line traces Lewis and Clark's route from Wood River, Illinois, up the Missouri River to Montana, west to the Snake and Columbia Rivers, and on to Astoria, Oregon. Pictorial vignettes highlight their 3-year expedition, including the keel boat the expedition took up the Missouri, portaging canoes around the great falls of the Missouri, and Sacajawea recognizing the Shoshone. Dashed red lines trace deviations on the return voyage. The various yellow lines follow other famous trails of the American West, including the Oregon Trail, the Pony Express, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Mormon Trail. Shope includes other vignettes illustrating aspects of pioneer western life, such as a covered wagon being pulled by a team of oxen, a Pony Express rider, bison, pronghorn antelope, and a stagecoach.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Irvin Shope and issued by the American Pioneer Trails Association in 1945. We note cataloged examples as being part of the collections at the University of Texas at Arlington, the Kansas City Public Library, and the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. This map does not appear in OCLC.